Keynote Speakers
Day 1- August 4, 2026 (Tuesday) – InterContinental Hotel
10:00 am – Conference Chair and IEOM President Remarks
10:10 am – Host Welcome Address –
10:30 am – 11:00 am Keynote:
Dr. Juan Marcos Castillo
Professor
Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (UTP)
Panama
Title of Presentation: The Potential Title: Uncertainty Management in the Supply Chain: Math, Tech, and Wisdom
Dr Juan Marcos Castillo holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, he is a professor at the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (UTP) and directs a Panama & Perspective Analytics, a Think Tank in Logistics, and the Smart Logistics Lab which is attached to the C TASC AIP, a Center of Education, Research, Development and Innovation in Semiconductors. Dr Castillo is a Husband, a Father, a visionary and Christian leader.
11:10 – 11:30 am: Keynote
Dr. Waldemar Karwowski
Pegasus Professor and Chairman
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida, USA
Waldemar Karwowski is Pegasus Professor and Chairman, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, University of Central Florida, USA. He holds an M.S. in Production Engineering and Management from the University of Technology Wroclaw, Poland, and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University, USA. He was awarded D.Sc. in management science by the Institute for Organization and Management in Industry, Warsaw, and received the National Professorship title from the President of Poland (2012). Three Central European universities also awarded him Doctor Honoris Causa degrees. Dr. Karwowski served on the Board on Human Systems Integration, National Research Council, USA (2007–2011). He currently is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science journal, Editor-in-Chief of Human-Intelligent Systems Integration journal, and Field Chief Editor of the Frontiers in Neuroergonomics. Dr. Karwowski has over 550 research publications, including over 200 journal papers. He is Fellow of the Ergonomics Society (U.K.), Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES), Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), and the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), and served as President of both HFES (2006-2007) and IEA (2000-2003). He received the William Floyd Award from the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors, the United Kingdom in 2017, and the David F. Baker Distinguished Research Award. Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, Atlanta, USA, in 2020. He was elected to Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL), Orlando, Florida, USA, November 2020.
11:30 – 12:00 am: Keynote
12:00 – 12:30 Keynote
12:30 – 1:00 Keynote
Day 2- August 5, 2026 (Wednesday) – InterContinental Hotel
10:00 am – 10:30 am Keynote
Dr. Alfonso Sarmiento
Associate Professor
Industrial Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
University of La Sabana
Chía, Colombia
Presentation Title: From Single-Paradigm to Hybrid Simulation: Methodologies for Integrated Modeling
Dr. Sarmiento is currently a professor and researcher in the Industrial Engineering program at the University of La Sabana. Dr. Sarmiento received his PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida (Orlando, USA) with emphasis in simulation of systems applied to the supply chain. His master’s degree was from the University of Florida (Gainesville, USA) with a specialty in Operations Research focused on Logistics. His professional career combines the experience gained over several years as a consultant in industrial engineering (process improvement, production line balance, facility layout, costing, etc.) with teaching in the academic area in courses on quantitative decision-making methods and operations management. His current lines of research include the application of different simulation paradigms (system dynamics, discrete event and agent simulation) and reinforcement learning to model and analyze complex systems.
10:30 – 11:00 am: Keynote
Emmanuel Urquieta, M.D., M.S., FAsMA
Vice Chair of Aerospace Medicine
Associate Professor of Medicine
College of Medicine
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida, USA
Emmanuel Urquieta, M.D., M.S., FAsMA, is the Vice Chair of Aerospace Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Central Florida – College of Medicine.
In his role at UCF, he oversees the development of research, education, and partnerships in the domain of aerospace medicine.
Prior to joining UCF, Dr. Urquieta served as the Chief Medical Officer at the NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health where we managed a multimillion-dollar portfolio of medical research for missions to the Moon and Mars, the commercial spaceflight program EXPAND, and analog capabilities, including partnerships with the Australian Antarctic Division.
He will discuss medicine, the astronauts, and his endeavors in telemedicine to treat astronauts during long space journeys which will include Artificial Intelligence and other advanced methodologies.
11:00 – 11:30 am: Keynote
Fernando Gonzalez Aleu, Ph.D. CPEM
Professor and Researcher
Engineering Department
Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM)
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
Fernando Gonzalez Aleu is a Professor and Researcher at the Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) in Mexico. He received a BS in Mechanical and Management Engineering at UDEM, a MS at ITESM in 1999, and both an MS and PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2015 and 2016, respectively. His research focuses on the applications of continuous improvement projects. Prior industry experience includes 15 years implementing quality systems, environmental systems, and management systems. He is member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, the American Society for Engineering Management, and the American Society for Quality.
11:30 am – 12:00 pm Keynote
Mr. Cristian Rincon
Associate Professor and Researcher
UNIMINUTO
Colombia
Title keynote: “Manufacturing in a VUCA World: Evolving from Resilience Recovery to Antifragile Advantage”
Bio: Cristian Rincón-Guio is an Industrial Engineer and a PhD candidate in Engineering – Industry and Organizations at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. He serves as Associate Professor and researcher at UNIMINUTO, where he leads research projects on resilience in manufacturing. Classified as Senior Researcher by MINCIENCIAS (2025), he has authored over 20 Scopus-indexed publications and delivered more than 15 presentations at international conferences including IEOM, POMS, DSMIE, and ICIEN. His current research focuses on how manufacturing firms build resilience capabilities to adapt to volatile disruptions in VUCA environments.
12:00 – 12:30 pm: Keynote
12:30 – 1:00 pm: Keynote
10:10 – 10:50 am, Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Dr. Ivan Garibay
Associate Professor
Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
University of Central Florida
Orlando, Florida, USA
Director, UCF Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Initiative
Director, Master of Science in Data Analytics
Director, Complex Adaptive Systems Laboratory
Founding Director, UCF I-Corps program
Affiliated appointments to Computer Science and Modeling and Simulation
Dr. Ivan Garibay is an Associate Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, University of Central Florida. He is the Director of UCF Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Initiative, Director of Master of Science Program in Data Analytics, and the Director of the Complex Adaptive Systems Laboratory. He is also the Founding Director of the UCF I‐Corps program. His interests lie in studying complex socio‐technical systems such as social media and artificial social intelligence. He received Ph.D. in Computer Science and M.S. in Computer Science from University of Central Florida, P.E. in Electronic Engineering (Titulo Profesional) and B.S. in Electronic Engineering from Ricardo Palma University, Peru.
Day 3- August 6, 2026 (Thursday) – U Latina Learning Villa
11:00 – 11:30 am: Keynote
Dr. Luis Rabelo
Professor
Department of Industrial Engineering & Management Systems
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL, USA
Dr. Luis Rabelo received the BS in Electro-Mechanical Engineer from the Technological University of Panama in 1983, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1987 Master’s and Doctorate in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri. He was a Postdoc at the University of Missouri in Nuclear Engineering. Dr. Rabelo received a dual MS in Systems and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has worked for the Advanced Technology Group (Goodrich) and Honeywell Laboratories. Dr. Rabelo was a NASA Fellow from 2002 to 2005, and a Project Manager at NASA from 2009 to 2011. He is currently Professor in the Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Department at UCF. He is also the Undergraduate Coordinator. He has written more than 300 articles and a book in Artificial Intelligence. He has been the principal advisor for 39 Master’s students and 29 PhDs. He received the award for the Best Scientific Article of the Year 2004 from the Society of Automotive Engineers, received the distinction “ONE NASA” in 2006. He was the recipient of the Fulbright Distinction in 2008. In November 2008, he received the honor of the Technological University of Panama (UTP) of being the 2008 Distinguished Alumni. In 2011, he was the Henaac Award Winner in Education. In 2013 and 2018, he received the Forest R. McFarland Award from the Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE). Lately, he received the SAE Russell S. Springer Award for his article on the modeling of space operations systems in 2017.
11:30 am – 12:00 pm Keynote
12:00 – 12:30 pm: Keynote
Dr. Luis Rocha Lona
Professor in Operations Management, Business School
National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico
México City, Mexico
Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe
Luis Rocha-Lona is a professor in Operations Management at the Business School at National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico and at Tec de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe. Luis Rocha graduated from the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico (IPN) as Automation Control Systems Engineer. Then, he pursued an MSc in Control Systems with a major in information systems/manufacturing at the University of Sheffield, UK. He holds a PhD in Operations Management from The Manchester Business School. Dr Luis Rocha-Lona has eight years of working experience in the public and private sectors. He has lead several projects involved with service and manufacturing organisations and is currently supervising Master and PhD students at National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico.
12:30 – 1:00 pm: Keynote
Contact: info@ieomsociety.org